Between high-stakes fighter jet combat and massive personalities on set, director Tony
Scott had a lot to deal with while he was working on "Top Gun."
But believe it or not, it was the movie's famous volleyball scene that almost got the
director fired.
Before "Top Gun" soared to the top of the box office in 1986, director Tony Scott was
best known for directing the cult vampire film "The Hunger," starring David Bowie and
Susan Sarandon.
While Scott went on to become one of the most successful directors in Hollywood by helming
such hits as "Beverly Hills Cop 2" and "Days of Thunder," it was "Top Gun" that propelled
him to A-list status in the late 1980s.
But despite his accomplishments behind the camera, he almost lost his job because of
one iconic scene.
"Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash."
In a well-known, nearly two-minute scene, sweat-glistened pilots Maverick, Goose, Iceman,
and Slider play a game of volleyball while the Kenny Loggins song "Playing With The Boys"
blasts in the background.
The director spoke about the scene for "Danger Zone: The Making of Top Gun," a documentary
featured on the movie's 30th anniversary Blu-ray and DVD.
"I didn't have a vision about what I was doing other than just doing soft porn."
On the June 3 episode of The Hollywood Reporter's "Behind the Screen" podcast, Chris Lebenzon
and Billy Weber, who were nominated for Oscars for their editing on "Top Gun," revealed that
at least one Paramount Studios executive was irate upon discovering Scott spent an entire
day filming the volleyball scene, which in the script only consisted of a single paragraph.
According to Lebenzon, the volleyball scene may have looked like a relaxed, fun time,
but it didn't go over so well with Paramount.
Lebenzon recalled,
"That scene was scripted as a real game.
They kept score and everything — and Tony shot it like a commercial, and [Paramount
was] angry."
Billy Weber further revealed director Tony Scott almost lost his job after filming the
volleyball scene that has now become so iconic that it was reimagined for the 2022 sequel
"Top Gun: Maverick."
According to Weber,
"The studio was so pissed off.
The head of production, Charlie McGuire, he said, 'I'm gonna fire him' ... because he
spent a whole day shooting this scene.
And then, of course, it turns out it's one of the most famous scenes in a movie."
To pay tribute to the fan-favorite scene, "Top Gun: Maverick" sees Maverick arrange
a game of "dogfight football" for the hot-headed graduates from the Top Gun academy he's been
tasked with preparing for a dangerous mission.
Fans got a sneak peek of the sequence in the earliest trailers for the sequel, with Paramount
clearly having changed their tune in the last 30-plus years on the inclusion of tantalizing
sports sequences in their action movies.
If fan reactions are anything to go by, the sequel will end up being just as beloved as
the original.
The movie raked in more than $400 million worldwide in its first week of release, and
reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.
For many, the volleyball scene in the original "Top Gun" is simply meant to function as a
bit of eye candy for viewers.
For a few glorious moments, audiences get a chance to see some of the hottest actors
from the 1980s in peak form play around for a little bit.
But according to star Tom Cruise, it's actually more meaningful than that.
Back in 1986, Cruise sat down for an interview with The Los Angeles Times, where he spoke
at length about "Top Gun," including delving into that scene.
He talked about how important it was to the overall story more so than simply offering
fun vibes, going on to say,
"First of all, it shows that to fighter pilots physical prowess is very important.
Plus, the scene shows the constant competition between these guys — how they compete on
every level."
With tongue firmly in cheek, plenty of people seem to agree that the scene is incredibly
important to the film, with one user on YouTube writing,
"Without this scene, the plot wouldn't even make any sense."
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